Religion: A Pretext for Conflict?

The world is seeing rising conflict and intolerance between religious groups across all regions. While religious texts preach tolerance, acceptance and justice, extremist groups are spreading fear, hatred and violence. Is religious intolerance actually religious?

Should Business Lead the Social Agenda?

Complex global problems are often left for international organizations and government to solve. As a result, however, we have failed to meet challenges such as the Millennial Development Goals. Businesses play an increasingly important role in the global system, and face growing pressure from millennial consumers and employees to align core operations with social impact. Can businesses help to find a solution to global challenges, and should these challenges really be tackled by businesses?

Employment: Mind the Gap?

Remuneration for top jobs continues to increase whereas mechanization and offshoring have eroded middle-wage jobs. Inequality in capital and income are on the rise and the trend shows no signs of abating. With 42 million people striving to join the workforce every year, is this trend reversible?

Pandemics: Whose Problem?

As the Ebola outbreak spreads, the world waits to see whether this epidemic has the potential to go global. As cases multiply exponentially, so does the cost of containment and treatment. The world’s initial ability to provide human and material resources to the affected countries has been abysmal. The next outbreak could emerge anywhere at any time how can we have a better global response?

Open Borders: Unavoidable or Unnecessary?

Globalization has been a growing force since the Industrial Revolution, removing barriers to the movement of goods, capital and people. Yet today, the movement of people is hindered by mounting fears of terrorism, migration and geopolitical instability. Are open borders a real threat?

The End of Democracy?

Mass protest movements in the 21st century in many instances have resulted in state failures rather than stable democracies. Can governments that dissociate economic from political freedoms endure and prosper over the long term?

Open Forum News

Since the last Open Forum one year ago the global context has changed in ways that could never have been predicted. A number of unexpected events have shaken the world, from revolution and conflict in the Ukraine to the rise of ISIS and the emergence of the ebola outbreak. At the same time the world is still marred by a number of underlying chronic problems; macroeconomic and technological shifts are disrupting employment markets, inequality is still on the rise and global and national governance architectures are looking increasingly moribund. The 2015 Open Forum programme addresses a number of these issues, while also asking what can be done to solve them.

The Open Forum Davos 2013, which runs in parallel to the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting 2013, is holding a series of high-level discussions, from 23 to 26 January, with leaders from the public and private sectors, as well as civil society. For the 11th consecutive year, the public is invited to join our animated debates and discuss current issues with global experts.

Open Forum Twitter

In a spirit of inclusivity, to engage youth and learn from one another, students of the Swiss Alpine School tweet throughout the Open Forum sessions, sharing inspiring comments, words of wisdom and various points of view. You can follow on @openforumdavos.